HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Introduction to Database Concepts and Microsoft Access 2007 Health Science Center IT Center – Training

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Database Concepts and Access 2007 u Introduction –Database –Microsoft Access u Design and Creation –Plan –Tables –Queries –Forms –Reports

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Things to Do u Contact your customer support u Talk to your ISM u Backup

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida What is a Database? u A structured collection of related data u An filing cabinet, an address book, a telephone directory, a timetable, etc. u In Access, your Database is your collection of related tables

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Data vs. Information u Data – a collection of facts made up of text, numbers and dates: Murray /18/86 u Information - the meaning given to data in the way it is interpreted: Mr. Murray is a sales person whose annual salary is $35,000 and whose hire date is July 18, 1986.

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Basic Database Concepts u Table –A set of related records Name: Barry Harris College: Medicine Tel: Name: Barry Harris u Field u Record –A collection of data about an individual item –A single item of data common to all records

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida An Example of a Table Records Fields NameGatorLinkPhoneCollege Smithrsmith Pharmacy Thomasbthomas Medicine Van Winklesleepyguy PHHP

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Design and Document Your Database u A designers best tools are a pencil and paper –It is important to plan what you are going to do u The sooner you touch the computer the sooner you’ll make a mistake –If you don’t plan you will often have to start again u Document what you are doing, will you remember what you did in three months time?

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Questions To Ask Yourself u What have I got? – (Inputs) u What do I want? – (Outputs) u What do I need to do to get there? – (Process) u How am I going to build it? – (Application/Program)

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Database Options Freeware/ Shareware Microsoft Excel Microsoft Access Oracle/SQL SimplicityBasicsIntermediateAdvanced Hire a programmer # of Users11Multiple Multiple of Multiples Multiple datasets No Yes Security Always consult with your security team if you are going to put any sensitive data on the internet.

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Why Use Access? u Familiar look and feel of Windows u Easy to start building simple databases u Can build sophisticated systems u It’s already on your computer u True relational database

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida What is a Relational Database? u A relational database is a collection of tables from which data can be accessed in many different ways without having to reorganize the database tables. – That is, once relationships are created, tables can “talk” to each other. We can link (relate) the tables to find: v Which doctors have seen a patient v Which students are in a class v Which item is selling the most on Friday’s

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Basic Design Rules u Data is broken down into Smallest Logical Parts PT ID #Home Address West Main Street, Gainesville, FL South 3rd Road, Apt 12, Newberry, FL West Newberry Road, Gainesville, FL Putting all of the home address in one field may make for convenient data entry, but it makes it very difficult to work with the data. For example, what if I needed to sort by City or Zip Code? Pulling fields together is fairly simple, pulling them apart is very difficult. You can join fields together in queries, forms and reports.

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Basic Design Rules u Unique Field Names PATIENT TABLE First NameLast Name AnnieAdams AprilAppleton ArnoldArlington BobbieBrown ButchBruce You also want to be aware of the field names across tables. For example several tables may use the Field LastName. When you use those fields in other parts of the database things can become very confusing very quickly. DOCTOR TABLE First NameLast Name SallyeShapiro SamuelSmith SidneySamueson When these two Last Name fields are pulled into the same Query/Form/Report they will appear with the table name in front of the field name: Patient Table.Last Name

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Basic Design Rules u No Calculated or Derived Fields Employee ID Num Hourly Rate Standard Hours Standard Pay Dept ID Num Dept Name 123$ $ Editing 789$ $ Edit Calculations - If we give an employee a raise, we will need to change both the Hourly Rate and the Standard Pay, and we need to make sure our calculations are correct. Derivations - Since we have the Dept ID, there is no need to include the Dept Name, it can be pulled from the Dept Table. Listing it in both places leads to data entry errors. Access will let you create calculations in queries, forms and reports.

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Basic Design Rules u Unique Records LastNameGatorLinkPhoneCollege Smithrsmith3-5051Pharmacy Smithrsmith COP Smithrsmith Pharmacy Thomasbthomas Medicine Van Winklesleepyguy PHHP If you don’t have unique records, your database can’t tell which record you may be referring to. LastNameEmergencyContact SmithMary Anne Smith

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Primary Keys LastNameGatorLinkPhoneCollege Smithrsmith Pharmacy Thomasbthomas Medicine Van Winklesleepyguy PHHP To ensure that each record is unique in each table, we can set one field to be a Primary Key field. A Primary Key is a field that that will contain no duplicates and no blank values. Looking at the table above, what would be the best Primary Key?

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Primary Keys LastNameGL IDPhoneCollege Smithrsmith Pharmacy ThomasBthomas Medicine Van Winklesleepyguy PHHP While each column in this particular data set has unique data, the field that will work best for us is GL ID (GatorLink). Many employees will work for the same college, have the same last name and possibly even share telephone numbers, but each employee should have a unique GatorLink ID. When there is not a unique field in your data set, you can use an AutoNumber. Access can create incremented or random AutoNumbers for your primary key.

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Basic Design Rules u Unique Records IDLastNameGatorLinkPhoneCollege 1Smithrsmith3-5051Pharmacy 2Smithrsmith COP 3Smithrsmith Pharmacy 4Thomasbthomas Medicine 5Van Winklesleepyguy PHHP We use the unique primary key as our link between our tables, this helps ensure we connect to the correct record. Emp IDEmergencyContact 2Mary Anne Smith

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Let’s Start Planning PatientsAppointments

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Opening a Database u To open a database when you start Access –Choose the database you wish to open from the left hand panel, or choose More… to browse for another database u To Create a database, click on the Blank Database at the top of the middle panel u You can also use the Microsoft button to open existing databases or create new ones.

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida The Access Database Window The menu on the left hand side provide access to all database objects

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Data View/Design View Datasheet View Design View

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Navigating Fields and Records u To move through records and fields u To move through records First Record Previous Record Last Record New Record Current Record Next Record  Tab  Shift+Tab  Enter  Home/End  Ctrl+Home  Ctrl+End  Page Up  Page Down  The Arrow Keys

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Introducing Tables u Database is a collection of TABLES u Tables store the data

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Introducing Queries u A means of asking questions (querying) of your data u Can look across a number of Tables and other Queries u Can perform Calculations and Combine fields

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Introducing Forms u A friendlier view of the database u Used for data input, menus, display and printing u Can perform Calculations and Combine fields

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Introducing Reports u Output of information in a printed report u Allows you to group and summarize data u Can perform Calculations and Combine fields u Cannot Edit Data u Can Make Labels

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Working Together Employees Customers Tables Queries Customer Company Name Address City Telephone Contact Name Forms Reports

HSC IT Center Training University of Florida Let’s take a break!